Pear
by MiyuWrites
Summary: Pear (fragility) – in China, the pear fruit and tree are symbols of long life, and pear blossom is used as a symbol of mourning and fragility


**Pear**

It was just another day, going back home after another mission.

The team was walking leisurely. Talking and teasing each other. They were quite dirty – there had been way too much dust in that house – and everyone had been teasing Natsu over his sneeze attacks. And Natsu just whined and pouted.

The sun was on its downward trek, the clouds gathering over the horizon looking plump and purple against an orange canvas. And behind them, the blanket of night started to cover the land.

Natsu was walking a few steps ahead, a content smile in his lips as fresh air filled his nostrils. He thought about Happy, but his best friend had had other plans. Still, the fire mage missed him, almost as if he were a lost limb. However, his other friends made up for that. There was nothing like hanging out with his team, those closest to him. Even if _Gray_ had to be there too. Natsu nearly paused to let out a hearty laugh. His rivalry with Gray was still pretty _on_ but things had calmed some. Of course that having Erza's attentive eyes on his back did stop him from starting a friendly brawl. There was always time for it when they got to the guild anyway.

Erza and Lucy's voices were the only ones heard amongst the sounds of nature that surrounded them.

Gray was flanking Erza on her left side and Lucy was on her right. Gray seemed to also be content in listening to the excited chatter.

So they kept walking. They would be in Magnolia a little after sunset and to finally get rid of all the dust – and to eat!

Natsu hummed distractedly as he looked up at the sky. There was something that he knew he should have done earlier but they had decided to hurry home.

It was important though…

Natsu's stomach grumbled loudly.

The fire mage stopped. A slight pink dusting reaching his cheeks.

He dared to glance back at his friends and saw their expressions of surprise. But in less than a heartbeat they were laughing.

"Did you forget something, fire breath?" Gray asked, laughing openly.

"Ahh, sorry, Natsu. We should have stopped for longer. Why didn't you say something?" Lucy asked, her amusement being undercut by a slight tinge of worry.

"I hadn't felt hungry?" was the answer, accompanied by a shrug.

"You didn't?" Erza asked and approached him. She placed a hand on his forehead and hummed. "Are you sick?"

"Hey!" Natsu batted her hands away and pouted. "Of course not. I just… I don't know. But, I could eat something. Like, right now."

"How about this?" Gray's voice sounded from a bit far away before something was coming Natsu's way.

Natsu grabbed the… fruit?

It was a pear.

"What the-?"

Gray had apparently noticed the orchard bordering one side of the road and climbed one of the fruit trees. And then an almost rain of pears started falling on the other three mages.

After the unexpected moment, the four mages sat near the edge of the road and started eating – Natsu had the biggest share, as expected. Fortunately the stomach grumblings abated, for the moment.

Lucy and Erza had resumed their conversation and that left Natsu and Gray to eat in contemplative silence. But, Natsu noticed, Gray seemed to be contemplating more than he was eating.

"What's up, ice brain?" Natsu asked as he took another bite.

Gray looked at his own pear and frowned a bit.

"Did you know that flowers and fruits have a meaning?" he asked.

"Whoa, that was not random…" Natsu said amusedly while elbowing his friend. But as the air of gloom didn't abate he also became serious. "No, I didn't know. I never thought much about that. It's weird that you know?"

"Not weird. From where I come from," and there Gray paused to take a calming breath. Natsu understood that sort of wound. Understanding the loss didn't mean that it didn't hurt, not even after such a long time. Gray placed his pear in Natsu's free hand, "let's say that there was some importance about the meanings and the relationships with harvests and such."

"That's a lot of stuff to remember." Natsu winked and tried to bring some levity to the loaded conversation. From behind him he noticed that the girls had stopped talking too.

"Just a bit," Gray shrugged, "but now I just remembered the meaning of _pear_. Long life, they said. It's ridiculous," he gave a mirthless laugh. "But I guess that in one thing they got it right. The flower."

"Wait, so you had meanings to different stages?" the fire mage interjected.

Gray rolled his eyes in a motion that clearly meant '_what do you think?_'

"As I was saying, the pear blossom was a symbol of mourning and fragility. They sure were right about that."

With those words ringing in the air the morale took a big dive.

Natsu stood up and extended his hand towards Gray. He glanced at the girls before focusing back on the ice mage.

"It's true that there are way more shitty things in our lives than we wished. And we can't change the past," at that moment Gray grasped his hand and Natsu pulled him up. He looked fiercely at him. "But we can do our best to not succumb to the darkness and admire the beauty of things."

After a moment – that seemed to stretch infinitely – Gray's somber expression shifted, softened.

"You're not wrong. But," he smiled mischievously, "since when do you give such poetic speeches?"

Natsu's mouth opened and closed a few times before he tackled Gray to the ground.

"I'll teach you-!" Natsu half laughed, half grumbled.

It didn't take long for the four friends to be laughing.

* * *

**A/N**: Soooo, this story was supposed to be about "peach" but it was kind of late when I looked into the meaning and lack of sleep does tricky things to the brain and before long I had built a whole story around the meaning of "pear". Ooopsies?

It's a bit of a gloomy story because it might be my reaction to a death. Today a singer I liked and respected passed away and this is being a cursed year. Four deaths that impacted me immensely.

So yeah, I'm sad and writing fic and for that I apologize.

Unbetaed, written late in the day with not enough sleep.


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